Evenes

Evenes (Evenášši) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Ofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bogen. Other villages in Evenes include Liland, Tårstad, Dragvik, and the village of Evenes. The municipality is the 285th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Evenes is the 307th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,334. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 1.8% over the previous 10-year period. The municipality of Evindnæs was established on 1 January 1884 when the old Ofoten Municipality was split into two new municipalities: Evindnæs and Ankenes. Initially, Evindnæs had 2,397 residents. The spelling was later changed from Evindnæs to Evenes. On 1 January 1912, the southern part of Trondenes Municipality in Troms county (population: 291) was transferred to Evenes (and Nordland county). On 1 July 1925, the southern district of Evenes on the south side of the Ofotfjorden (population: 3,270) was separated to become the new Ballangen Municipality. This left Evenes with 2,323 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the small, unpopulated Ramnes area in western Evenes was transferred to the neighboring Tjeldsund Municipality. On 1 January 1999, the small Veggen area of Narvik Municipality (population: 9) was transferred to Evenes Municipality. The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Evenes farm (Øyvindarnes) since the first Evenes Church was built there. The first element is (probably) the genitive case of the male name Øyvindr. The last element is nes which means "headland". Historically, the name was spelled Evindnæs. The coat of arms was granted on 12 January 1990. The official blazon is "Gules, a wheel argent" (I rødt et sølv hjul). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a wagon wheel.